TWI711533B - Three dimensional printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

A three dimensional printing method for a three dimensional printer is provided. The three dimensional printer includes a modeling printing head, a coloring printing head, and a platform. The modeling printing head prints a forming layer on X-Y plane of the platform. The modeling printing head and the coloring printing head are arranged along X-axis and co-constructed. The three dimensional printing method includes, providing information of the forming layer and a coloring zone thereof, a processor drives the modeling printing head to print the forming layer and at least one material barrier outside the forming layer, after the forming layer and the material barrier being printed, the processor drives the coloring printing head to color the coloring zone, such that the material barrier is located on a moving path of the modeling printing head while coloring.

Description

Three-dimensional printing method

The invention relates to a three-dimensional printing method.

With the increasing development of science and technology, many different methods for building physical three-dimensional (3-D) models using additive manufacturing technology such as layer-by-layer model building have been proposed. Generally speaking, additive manufacturing technology converts the design data of a 3-D model constructed with software such as computer-aided design (CAD) into multiple thin (quasi-two-dimensional) cross-sectional layers that are continuously stacked .

Many methods have been developed to form multiple thin cross-sectional layers. For example, according to the aforementioned information of each thin cross-sectional layer, the forming material is sprayed or squeezed on the platform to harden it to form a thin cross-sectional layer, which can be stacked layer by layer to form a three-dimensional object. In addition, the printing device can be further equipped with a coloring nozzle to facilitate the coloring of the thin cross-sectional layer or the three-dimensional object during or after the manufacturing process of the three-dimensional object.

Based on the above, how to enable the object printing and coloring operations to be executed separately in the manufacturing process without affecting each other is actually a subject that relevant technicians need to consider.

The invention provides a three-dimensional printing method, which has synchronously displaced printing nozzles and coloring nozzles, and by forming a material wall before coloring, so that the material wall can be located on the moving path of the printing nozzle during coloring. The effect of cleaning the print head, thereby improving the printing quality of formed layers or three-dimensional objects.

The three-dimensional printing method of the present invention is suitable for three-dimensional printing devices. The three-dimensional printing device includes a printing nozzle, a coloring nozzle and a platform. The printing nozzle prints the forming layer on the X-Y plane of the platform, and the printing nozzle and the coloring nozzle are arranged along the X axis and are co-structured. The three-dimensional printing method includes: providing information on the forming layer and its colored area; the processor drives the printing nozzle on the platform and outside the contour range of the forming layer when printing the forming layer according to the information on the forming layer and the colored area Print at least one material barrier; and after the forming layer and material wall are completed, the processor drives the coloring nozzle to color the coloring area along the Y axis, so that when the coloring nozzle is coloring, the material wall is located in the movement of the printing nozzle On the path.

Based on the above, the 3D printing device has print nozzles and coloring nozzles that move synchronously and are arranged along the X axis. Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned printing of 3D objects, the forming layer or the finished 3D objects are also colored At the same time, it does not affect the printed forming layer because the forming material in the printing nozzle passes through the forming layer when the coloring nozzle is coloring. Therefore, the printed material is printed in the area outside the forming layer before coloring The material wall is located on the moving path of the print nozzle during coloring. Therefore, when coloring, the forming material of the print nozzle can be attached to the material wall due to contact with the material wall, that is, the material wall provides opposite rows. The scraping and cleaning actions of the print nozzle can effectively prevent the forming material of the print nozzle falling on the forming layer during coloring, which affects the printing quality of the three-dimensional object.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic diagram of a three-dimensional printing device according to an embodiment of the invention. 2A and 2B are flowcharts of three-dimensional printing methods, respectively. FIG. 3 is a schematic partial top view of the three-dimensional printing device. Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3 at the same time. In this embodiment, the three-dimensional printing device 100 includes a frame 110, a platform 120, a printing assembly 130, and a control module 140 (shown in FIG. 3). Here, the 3D printing device 100 is, for example, a fused deposition modeling (FDM) device, which can print the forming layer 200 layer by layer on the platform 120 through the printing nozzle 131 of the printing assembly 130, and then Stack up three-dimensional objects. Furthermore, the printing assembly 130 further includes a coloring nozzle 132, which is, for example, an inkjet head, for coloring the formed layer or the three-dimensional object.

It should be noted that the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 of this embodiment are arranged along the X axis and move synchronously in the internal space of the frame 110. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the printing assembly 130 further includes a moving part 133, which is movably assembled on the frame 110 and electrically connected to the control module 140, and the printing nozzle 131 is the same as the coloring nozzle 132 Assembled to the moving part 133, so the two move together with the moving part 133 in the frame 110. Here, the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 are arranged on the same moving part 133 to form a co-construction structure, that is, the printing nozzle can be moved synchronously by a single driving means (only the moving part 133 is driven) 131 and coloring nozzle 132 (also can be regarded as there is no relative movement between the two).

In this way, when the coloring nozzle 132 is used to color the formed layer or three-dimensional object, it is possible for the printing nozzle 131 to follow the formed layer or three-dimensional object. Furthermore, when the print nozzle 131 has just printed a finished shaped layer or three-dimensional object, there will still be residual forming materials in it. Therefore, as mentioned above, when it passes through the printed shaped layer or three-dimensional object, the remaining The forming material may drip or hang down on the printed forming layer or three-dimensional object.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned residual forming material from affecting the quality of the printing target, this embodiment provides a three-dimensional printing method to drive the printing nozzle to perform related actions when the coloring nozzle is activated, so as to prevent the above reasons from affecting the forming layer or The quality of three-dimensional objects.

It should also be noted that the three-dimensional printing method can be executed after the three-dimensional model is completed, that is, after the three-dimensional object model is constructed by computer-aided design, the three-dimensional method can be used to slice Analysis, that is, in the process of parsing into multiple forming layers, the processor of the control module 140 can simulate the operation mode of the printing nozzle 131, the coloring nozzle 132 and the moving part 133 accordingly, so as to provide the three-dimensional printing device 100 in Action commands for physical printing. Of course, in another embodiment, the 3D object model can also be analyzed by the processor of another computer device or non-stereo printing device. After the analysis is completed and the action command is generated, the 3D object model can be imported for 3D printing. The control module 140 of the device 100 performs physical printing operations.

Generally speaking, in order to allow the residual forming material to be effectively removed, the present embodiment mainly forms at least one material wall outside the outline of the forming layer when the forming layer is printed. After the material wall, just perform the coloring action in the coloring area. While coloring, the position of the material wall is located on the moving path of the print nozzle during coloring, so that the print nozzle can contact the material wall and the residual forming material is removed by the material wall. There will be further descriptions later. 2A and 2B, in this embodiment, the model information of the three-dimensional object is first provided in step S100; then, in step S110, the model information of the three-dimensional object is analyzed by the processor into forming layer information. The forming layer is to convert the design data of the 3D model constructed by the software into a plurality of thin (quasi-two-dimensional) cross-sectional layers continuously stacked; and in step S120, the forming layer is analyzed by the three-dimensional printing method; , The processor drives the 3D printing device 100 to start printing according to the corresponding instructions generated after the analysis, such as the printing forming layer in step S130, the printing material wall in step S140, and the coloring in step S150 (here The order of step S130 to step S150 is not limited). After the basis is completed, it is determined in step S160 whether it is the last layer of forming layer. If it is, the printing and coloring of the three-dimensional object is ended in step S170. If not, step S130 to step S150 are repeated until the three-dimensional object row is completed Printing and coloring actions.

In this embodiment, FIG. 2B is the further action flow of step S120 in FIG. 2A. In other words, the step described in FIG. 2B is to analyze the information of each forming layer to obtain subsequent commands for driving the 3D printing device 100.

It should be noted that the three-dimensional printing method of this embodiment is used with right-angled coordinates XYZ to more clearly define and describe the configuration and actions of related components. Here, the platform 120 has an XY plane, and the multi-layer forming layer is The three-dimensional objects are stacked along the positive Z axis, but the invention is not limited to this. That is to say, the configuration and action between the components are in a relative state. When applying different coordinate systems, there are of course different description methods, but it does not affect the correspondence between the components.

Please refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 3. In this embodiment, a forming layer analysis operation is first performed in step S121 to determine whether the forming layer has a colored area. In FIG. 3, a forming layer 200 is taken as an example. When it is confirmed in step S121 that the forming layer 200 needs to be colored, step S122 is executed to provide relevant information about the forming layer and its colored area, and the distance L3 between the coloring nozzle 132 and the printing nozzle along the X axis. As shown in FIG. 3, the entire area of the forming layer 200 of this embodiment is regarded as a colored area, and its orthographic projection size on the X axis is L2, and the distance between the two nozzles is L3. In addition, regarding the range of the colored region provided by the forming layer 200, other descriptions will be made later.

Here, the distance L3 refers to the size of the orthographic projection of the distance between the two nozzles on the X axis. In the embodiment of the present invention, although the printing nozzles and the coloring nozzles are arranged along the X axis to illustrate the distance, there is no drawing In the illustrated embodiment, the two nozzles can also be arranged obliquely in the top view angle as shown in the embodiment (that is, the connection line of the two nozzles is inclined with respect to the X axis or the Y axis), that is, the two nozzles are along the Y axis. The shaft also has misalignment. At this time, the distance between the two nozzles must be the orthographic projection size obtained after orthographic projection to the X axis as the basis for the analysis of the present invention. At the same time, it is preferable in the above step S122 to provide the orthographic projection information of the colored area on the X-Y plane, so as to correspond to the distance L3 and facilitate subsequent analysis operations. Of course, when it is defined in other coordinate systems, there will be an appropriate outline definition description.

Generally speaking, when the 3D model information of the three-dimensional object is parsed into multiple forming layers, each forming layer has contour information as shown in Figure 3, and the boundary range of the forming layer 200 on the XY plane can be defined accordingly. (Bounding box), where the orthographic projection size L2 of the forming layer 200 on the X axis represents the maximum size of the forming layer 200 along the X axis when the forming layer 200 corresponds to the rectangular coordinates XYZ.

Next, in step S123, it is determined whether the orthogonal projection size L2 and the spacing L3 are related, that is, whether the orthogonal projection size L2 of the colored area on the X axis is greater than or equal to the spacing L3 between the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132. When the result is yes, then step S124-1 is executed to further determine the orthographic projection size of the material wall on the X axis. When the result is no, step S124-2 is executed to determine whether to print the material wall.

In step S124-1, the basis for determining the orthographic projection size of the material wall on the X axis is based on different modes. The only requirement is that the orthographic projection size L1 of the material wall on the X axis must be greater than or equal to the coloring area on the X axis. The difference between the orthographic projection size L2 and the distance L3, that is, L1≧L2-L3.

3, in order to allow the coloring nozzle 132 to perform coloring, the printing nozzle 131 will pass through the material wall 300 before passing through the forming layer 200, and as mentioned above, there is between the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 (along the X axis ) The distance L3, so the starting point E1 of the material wall 300 is equivalent to the coloring starting point of the coloring nozzle 132 on the X axis and then shifted to the positive X axis at the distance L3, and the material wall 300 therefore extends toward the positive X axis until the column The print head 131 no longer passes through the forming layer 200, that is, the end point E2 shown in the figure. Therefore, the required orthographic projection size L1 of the material wall 300 on the X axis in this mode is equal to the difference between the orthographic projection size L2 of the colored area on the X axis and the spacing L3, that is, L1=L2-L3.

In another mode, when the printing nozzle 131 reaches the end point E2 of the material wall 300, the coloring nozzle 132 has not completed the coloring action, which means that the moving part 133 must continue to move in the positive X-axis direction. The nozzle 132 can still achieve the cleaning effect during the coloring action of the coloring nozzle 132. Therefore, the end point of the material wall 300 can extend from the aforementioned end point E2 to the positive X axis direction to the new end point E3. At this time, the material wall 300 is at X The orthographic projection size of the axis (ie, L1+L3) is substantially equal to the orthographic projection size L2 of the shaded area on the X axis.

It should also be mentioned that the start point and the end point described here correspond to the sequence of the coloring nozzle 132 when coloring the coloring area. For example, the coloring nozzle 132 of this embodiment moves toward the positive Y-axis direction for coloring, and moves toward the positive X-axis direction. Therefore, in the positive X-axis direction, the starting point of the material wall 300 is after the end point (end point). Prior to the starting point), it also means that the printing nozzle 131 will first touch the starting point of the material wall 300 during coloring. In other words, the first and the second in the present invention are based on the direction of movement of the component and the right-angle coordinates X-Y-Z as the reference datum. Here, the related first and last description methods are also applicable to other embodiments. Similarly, the following descriptions about the leading edge and the trailing edge of the forming layer also have a similar reference, that is, in the positive X-axis direction, the trailing edge of the forming layer is prior to the leading edge of the forming layer.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the formation process of the material wall and the forming layer. The present invention does not limit the order in which the material wall 300 and the forming layer 200 are completed. In an embodiment not shown, the forming layer 200 may be printed first and then the material wall 300 may be printed. In another unshown implementation In an example, the material wall 300 can be printed first and then the forming layer 200 is printed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the material wall 300 and the forming layer 200 are completed together, that is, the print nozzle 131 is along the Y axis The forming material is sprayed and gradually displaced along the X axis to produce the forming layer 200.

Please refer to FIG. 2B again. After confirming the size of the material wall, it is necessary to determine the arrangement sequence of the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 along the X axis in step S125 to determine the start and end positions of the material wall. As shown in step S126 of FIG. 2B and FIG. 3, at this time, in the displacement direction of the coloring nozzle 132 along the X axis (positive X-axis direction), when the printing nozzle 131 is arranged before the coloring nozzle 132, the material wall 300 The orthographic projection of the starting point E1 on the X-axis is within the range of the orthographic projection of the forming layer 200 on the X-axis. This is because the printing nozzle 131 is set before the coloring nozzle 132, and there is a distance L3 between the two along the X axis. Therefore, when the coloring nozzle 132 starts to color, the orthographic projection of the printing nozzle 131 on the X axis is substantially The colored area falling into the forming layer 200 is within the X-axis orthographic projection contour, which means that when the coloring nozzle 132 is performing coloring, the printing nozzle 131 has already passed the forming layer 200.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. Please refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 5 at the same time. In another mode, as shown in step S127, when the coloring nozzle 132 is displaced along the X axis (positive X axis direction), the coloring nozzle 132 is ahead of the printing nozzle 131 During configuration, the orthographic projection of the starting point E5 of the material wall 300a on the X-axis is within the range of the orthographic projection of the forming layer 200 on the X-axis. In other words, since on the X axis, the printing nozzle 131 is arranged after the coloring nozzle 132 and keeping the distance L3, when the coloring nozzle 132 starts to color, the orthographic projection of the printing nozzle 131 on the X axis is still on the forming layer 200 It is outside the range of the orthographic projection of the X axis, so the print head 131 will not pass through the forming layer 200 yet. Accordingly, the starting point E5 of the material wall 300a can be set at the coloring starting point of the coloring nozzle 132, and therefore extends toward the positive X-axis direction, until the coloring nozzle 132 completes the coloring operation, the print nozzle 131 is in the X-axis orthographic projection direction The position of the end point E4, that is, the orthographic projection size L1c of the end point E4 and the end edge of the forming layer 200 on the X axis will be equal to the distance L3, and the orthographic projection size L1b of the material wall 300a on the X axis will be equal to the coloring zone on the X axis The difference between the orthographic projection size L2 and the distance L3, that is, L1b=L2-L3.

On the other hand, in order to provide a further cleaning effect on the print nozzle 131, in another mode, the print nozzle 131 can be used when the color nozzle 132 is coloring and the print nozzle 131 has not passed the forming layer 200. It can be cleaned by contacting the material wall 300a early. That is to say, the starting point E5 of the material wall 300a will extend to the starting point E6 in the negative X-axis direction, and the orthographic projection size L1a is equal to the spacing L3. This means that when the coloring nozzle 132 is coloring, the printing nozzle 131 will be It will come into contact with the material wall 300a for cleaning. At this time, the orthographic projection size of the material wall 300a on the X axis is L1a+L1b, which also represents L2=L1a+L1b.

FIG. 6 illustrates a partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. The difference from the previous embodiment is that the orthographic projection of the print nozzle 131 in this embodiment on the X axis and the orthographic projection of the color nozzle 132 on the X axis coincide with each other, that is to say, the print nozzle 131 and the color nozzle 132 of this embodiment There is no spacing on the X axis between them. Accordingly, when the coloring nozzle 132 colors the forming layer 200 along the Y axis, the printing nozzle 131 substantially has the possibility of passing through the forming layer 200. Therefore, the orthographic projection size of the material wall 300b in this embodiment on the X axis is It is substantially equal to the orthographic projection size of the colored area of the forming layer 200 on the X axis.

It can be clearly seen from Figures 3, 5 and 6 that the size and configuration of the material wall in different modes are based on the coloring action of the coloring nozzle 132 and the orthographic projection configuration of the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 on the X axis. Depends. That is, when there is a distance L3 between the coloring nozzle 132 and the printing nozzle 131 on the X axis, the material walls 300, 300a of different modes are printed and configured as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. When there is no X-axis configuration, the printing configuration of the material wall 300b is performed as shown in FIG. 6. Here, the axial direction of the distance L3 is consistent with the displacement direction (positive X-axis direction) of the (printing, coloring) nozzle. In addition, the starting point and ending point of the material wall also change with different modes. In one of the modes in FIG. 5 and that shown in FIG. 6, the orthographic projection of the starting point of the material wall on the X axis is located on the X axis of the forming layer 200 The front edge of the orthographic projection. For Figures 3 and 6, the orthographic projection of the end point of the material wall on the X axis is located at the end of the orthographic projection of the forming layer 200 on the X axis, that is, the material wall 300b on the X axis. The orthographic projection and the orthographic projection of the colored area on the X axis coincide and have the same size.

FIG. 7 is a partial top schematic diagram of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. Here, the configuration of FIG. 3 is taken as an example to further describe the corresponding relationship between the material wall and the forming layer. Please refer to FIG. 7. In this embodiment, the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 are the same as the configuration of FIG. 3, that is, in the direction of the positive X axis, the printing nozzle 131 is configured before the coloring nozzle 132. And there is a distance M between the two along the X axis. As shown in Figure 7, the coloring nozzle 132 colors the forming layer 200 along the Y axis and displaces it along the positive X axis. Therefore, when analyzing the forming layer 200, the forming layer 200 will be decomposed into a plurality of lines extending along the Y axis. Bands arranged along the X axis, the coloring nozzles 132 color the forming layer 200 one by one along these bands. Here, the coloring times of the coloring nozzles 132 are B ₁ , B ₂ , B ₃ ,...,B _n-1 , B _{n is} represented by a number sequence {B _n }, where n is a positive integer, and the bandwidth W represents the coloring accuracy of the coloring nozzle 132 along the X axis.

As mentioned above, in this embodiment, due to the configuration relationship between the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132, the first brushing is performed on the coloring nozzle 132. The first coloring (B ₁ ), the printing nozzle 131 will pass through the forming layer 200. It is necessary to arrange the material wall 300c in the area A ₁ outside the forming layer 200, and at the same time, as the coloring nozzle 132 performs the coloring action of {B _n }, it can be expected to be in the areas A ₁ , A ₂ , A ₃ ,..., A _n-1 and A _{n are both} set up with a material wall 300c. Here, the areas A ₁ , A ₂ , A ₃ ,..., A _n-1 , A _{n are also} represented by a number sequence {A _n }, where n is a positive integer. In this way, the analysis step of the forming layer 200 is completed by then. When the printing nozzle 131 is subsequently driven to perform the printing action of the forming layer 200, the printing nozzle 131 can also be driven to print the material wall 300c at the area {A _n } at the same time.

Referring to FIG. 7 and comparing the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the foregoing embodiment is that the listed material walls are of continuous structure, while FIG. 7 is of discontinuous structure. However, both can effectively provide the cleaning effect of the print nozzle 131. In addition, in another unillustrated embodiment, similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the material wall 300 a can also be presented in an intermittent structure with reference to the manner shown in FIG. 7.

Similar to the aforementioned figure 3, in the displacement direction of the coloring nozzle 132 (towards the positive X-axis direction), since the printing nozzle 131 is set before the coloring nozzle 132, different modes can be selected to determine the end point of the material wall 300 E2 or E3. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, different modes can also be selected so that the area of the final material wall is A _n-1 or A _n .

What needs to be mentioned here is that the cleaning effect in this case is that when the coloring nozzle 132 performs the coloring action, the printing nozzle 131 can pass and touch the wall of materials that have been listed, and let the residual of the printing nozzle 131 The forming material can be coated or adhered to and attached to the material wall, and at the same time, the material wall can scrape the print nozzle 131, and the residual forming material is removed from the print nozzle 131, which means that the material wall is opposite The height on the XY plane is equal to the height of the forming layer relative to the XY plane, so that the print nozzle 131 can smoothly contact the material wall.

On the other hand, in the material wall of the above embodiment, in the coloring direction of the coloring nozzle 132 along the Y-axis (that is, toward the positive Y-axis direction), the material wall will be set before the forming layer 200, and in another not shown In the embodiment, in the coloring direction of the coloring nozzle 132 along the Y axis, the forming layer 200 can be changed to be set before the material wall, that is, the material wall is set below the forming layer 200 in the figure, which can also achieve the same removal Material effect.

FIG. 8 is a schematic partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. Please refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 8 at the same time. The following describes another process after the judgment in step S123. In this embodiment, when the orthographic projection size L4 of the coloring area on the X axis is smaller than the distance L5 between the printing nozzle 131 and the coloring nozzle 132 along the X axis, then step S124-2 is executed, which means that the user can Decide whether to print the material wall. The reason for this is that, as shown in FIG. 8, when the coloring nozzle 132 is coloring the colored area of the forming layer 200b (this embodiment also needs to color all the regions of the forming layer 200b), the printing nozzle 131 will not pass through the forming layer 200b, so there is no urgency to clean the print nozzle 131 during the coloring process. Therefore, if you choose not to print the material wall, the 3D printing method of this embodiment will directly execute step S128 , End the analysis of the forming layer of this layer, and start the analysis of the other layer.

However, if the printing nozzle 131 still needs to be cleaned due to usage requirements, step S124-3 is required, that is, the printing action of the material wall 300d is further performed in the area other than the forming layer 200b. The value is set to determine the orthographic projection size L6 of the material wall 300d on the X axis, and the orthographic projection size L6 is less than or equal to the orthographic projection size L4 of the forming layer 200b on the X axis.

FIG. 9 is a partial top schematic view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. The entire area of the forming layer in the foregoing embodiment is used as a colored layer. In this embodiment, the forming layer 200a has different parts 210, 220, and 230, and the part 230 does not need to be colored, that is, the colored area covers the forming layer 200a. Multiple distinct parts 210, 220. However, the analysis method for the colored area is the same as the aforementioned steps S121 to S128, that is, the parts 210 and 220 are respectively viewed, and the orthographic projection sizes X _a , X _{b of the parts} 210 and 220 on the X axis are provided, and the coloring nozzle The arrangement and spacing M of the 132 and the print nozzle 131 perform respective analysis actions accordingly, and the material wall 300e and the material wall 300f are formed in the corresponding areas. The detailed analysis steps are as described above and will not be repeated here.

It should also be mentioned that although the above-mentioned embodiments analyze and explain one layer of forming layer, generally speaking, a three-dimensional object is formed by stacking multiple layers of forming layer, and each forming layer will have a different contour, so It should be noted that the printing area of the material wall in the above embodiment should be located outside the forming layer for a single forming layer, while for three-dimensional objects, the position of the material wall should be restricted Outside the orthographic projection contour (ie boundary range) of the three-dimensional object on the platform (XY plane) to ensure that the material wall does not interfere with the three-dimensional object.

For example, when a three-dimensional object is shaped like a pyramid and placed on a platform, the first layer of forming will have the largest area at this time, and then the area of each layer will decrease. Then the three-dimensional printing method is performing the material wall When setting, the largest area (that is, the first forming layer) must be taken as the prerequisite, and the printed material wall must be outside the contour range of the first forming layer, so as to avoid subsequent printing of the same layer When forming a layer and a material wall, although the material wall is outside the contour range of the forming layer of the same layer, it may still fall within the contour range of the previous layer (first layer).

In another embodiment, when the three-dimensional object is erected on the platform in the shape of an inverted pyramid, the first layer of forming layer will be the smallest in area at this time, and then the area of each layer will increase, and the three-dimensional printing method is working on the material There are two situations when setting the wall. One is to print the material wall outside the contour range of the forming layer of the same layer according to the aforementioned three-dimensional printing method. At this time, the area of the forming layer increases layer by layer. As a result, the wall may gradually move outward along with the forming layer, that is, the contour range of the forming layer of the next layer will cover but not touch the material wall of the previous layer, so that when the three-dimensional object is completed, multiple material walls will be formed. These material walls are gradually expanding along with the forming layer.

Furthermore, the other situation is as described above, that is, the last layer of forming layer (the one with the largest area) is used as the reference, and the material wall is set outside the contour range of the last layer of forming layer. Of course, the three-dimensional printing method can be formed by matching the setting methods of the aforementioned material walls according to requirements.

To sum up, in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the three-dimensional printing device has a printing nozzle and a coloring nozzle, and the two nozzles form a co-structured structure and move synchronously. Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned three-dimensional object At the same time of printing, it also has the effect of coloring the formed layer or the finished three-dimensional object. At the same time, the residual forming material in the printing nozzle will not affect the printed forming layer when the coloring nozzle is colored. Therefore, before coloring, the material wall is printed in the area outside the forming layer, and the material wall is positioned on the moving path of the printing nozzle during coloring. Therefore, when coloring, the forming material of the printing nozzle can be changed. It is attached to the material wall in contact with the material wall, that is, the material wall provides the scraping and cleaning action on the print nozzle, which can effectively prevent the forming material of the print nozzle falling on the forming layer and affecting the row of three-dimensional objects when it is colored. Print quality.

In the analysis process, the three-dimensional printing method determines the orthographic projection size of the required material wall on the X axis according to the orthographic projection size of the colored area of the forming layer on the X axis and the distance between the two nozzles on the X axis. Then, the starting point and the end point of the material wall are further determined according to the sequence of the arrangement positions of the two nozzles on the X-axis, and the starting point or the end point can be changed as required when the conditions are met.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

100‧‧‧Three-dimensional printing device 110‧‧‧Frame 120‧‧‧Platform 130‧‧‧Printing assembly 131‧‧‧Printing nozzle 132‧‧‧Coloring nozzle 133‧‧‧Moving part 140‧‧‧Control Module 200, 200a, 200b‧‧‧Forming layer 210, 220, 230‧‧‧Part 300, 300a, 300b, 300c, 300d, 300e, 300f‧‧‧Material wall A ₁ ,A ₂ ,A ₃ ,..., A _n-1 ,A _n , {A _n }‧‧‧Region B ₁ ,B ₂ ,B ₃ ,…,B _n-1 ,B _n , {B _n }‧‧‧Number of colors E1, E4, E5‧ ‧‧Start point E2, E3‧‧‧End point L1, L2, L1a, L1b, L1c, L4, L6‧‧‧Orthogonal projection size L3, L5‧‧‧Pitch S100～S170, S121～S128, S124-1～S124- 3‧‧‧Step XYZ‧‧‧Right angle coordinates

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic diagram of a three-dimensional printing device according to an embodiment of the invention. 2A and 2B are flowcharts of three-dimensional printing methods, respectively. FIG. 3 is a schematic partial top view of the three-dimensional printing device. Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the formation process of the material wall and the forming layer. FIG. 5 is a schematic partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates a partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. FIG. 7 illustrates a partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment. FIG. 9 shows a partial top view of a three-dimensional printing device according to another embodiment.

S121~S128, S124-1~S124-3‧‧‧Step

Claims (18)

A three-dimensional printing method is suitable for a three-dimensional printing device. The three-dimensional printing device includes a printing nozzle, a coloring nozzle and a platform. The printing nozzle prints a forming layer on the XY plane of the platform, wherein The printing nozzle and the coloring nozzle are arranged along the X axis and have a co-constructed structure. The three-dimensional printing method includes: providing information about the forming layer and a coloring area; a processor according to the information of the forming layer and the coloring area Information, when printing the forming layer, drive the print nozzle to print at least one material barrier on the platform and outside the outline of the forming layer; and after completing the forming layer and the material wall, The processor drives the coloring nozzle to color the coloring area along the Y axis. When the coloring nozzle performs the coloring function, a displacement of the coloring nozzle drives the printing nozzle to the forming layer, and the material wall is formed according to the coloring The movement path of the nozzle is determined, and the printing nozzle passes and touches the material wall before passing through the forming layer. For the three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the printing nozzle still has residual forming material after printing the forming layer. When the printing nozzle passes by and touches the material wall, the material wall changes from The printing nozzle removes the residual forming material. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein there is a distance between the printing nozzle and the colored nozzle along the X axis, and the three-dimensional printing method further includes: determining the orthographic projection of the colored area on the X axis Whether the size is greater than or equal to this distance. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 3 of the scope of patent application also includes: When the orthographic projection size of the colored area on the X axis is greater than or equal to the distance, the orthographic projection size of the material wall on the X axis (L1) is greater than or equal to the orthographic projection size of the colored area on the X axis (L2) The difference from this distance (L3) is L1≧L2-L3. As described in item 3 of the scope of patent application, the three-dimensional printing method further includes: when the orthographic projection size of the colored area on the X axis is smaller than the pitch, the orthographic projection size of the material wall on the X axis is greater than or equal to zero. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application further includes: determining the arrangement order of the printing nozzle and the coloring nozzle on the X axis. As described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, the three-dimensional printing method further includes: when the printing nozzle precedes the coloring nozzle in the displacement direction of the coloring nozzle along the X axis, the starting point of the material wall is on the X axis The orthographic projection of is within the range of the orthographic projection of the forming layer on the X axis. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein the orthographic projection of the end point of the material wall on the X axis is located at the end of the orthographic projection of the forming layer on the X axis. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein the orthographic projection of the end point of the material wall on the X axis is outside the range of the orthographic projection of the forming layer on the X axis. As described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, the three-dimensional printing method further includes: when the coloring nozzle precedes the printing nozzle in the displacement direction of the coloring nozzle along the X axis, the end of the material wall is on the X axis The orthographic projection of is within the range of the orthographic projection of the forming layer on the X axis. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 10 of the scope of patent application, wherein the orthographic projection of the starting point of the material wall on the X axis is located at the front edge of the orthographic projection of the forming layer on the X axis. The three-dimensional printing method described in item 10 of the scope of patent application, wherein the orthographic projection of the starting point of the material wall on the X axis is outside the range of the orthographic projection of the forming layer on the X axis. The three-dimensional printing method described in the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the orthographic projection of the material wall on the X axis and the orthographic projection of the colored area on the X axis coincide and have the same size. According to the three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the forming layer precedes the material wall in the coloring direction of the coloring nozzle along the Y axis. According to the three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the material wall precedes the forming layer in the coloring direction of the coloring nozzle along the Y axis. In the three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the forming layer and the material wall are printed simultaneously. In the three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the material wall forms a continuous structure or an intermittent structure along the X axis. According to the three-dimensional printing method described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the height of the material wall relative to the X-Y plane is equal to the height of the forming layer relative to the X-Y plane.

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